Ben E Lou
08-30-2004, 10:48 AM
Cobb driver charged after decapitated body found in truck
By SAEED AHMED ([email protected]), BRENDEN SAGER ([email protected])
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/30/04
A Marietta man left a bar early Sunday morning, got into an accident that decapitated the passenger in his pickup truck, then drove several miles home and went to sleep — leaving his pickup truck parked overnight in his driveway with the body of his friend hanging out the passenger side window, Cobb County police said.
Police said John Kemper Hutcherson, 21, of Marietta drove off a road soon after leaving a bar about midnight and hit a support wire to a telephone pole. The guide wire severed the head of his friend, Francis Daniel Brohm, 23, of Marietta.
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Hutcherson then drove 12 miles to his home on Fox Hound Chase, where police found him Sunday morning in blood-splattered clothes.
"It's hard for one to imagine that you would drive [several] miles from a crash site to your home, turning in various directions, and yet not know what has happened to a passenger sitting next to you in your vehicle," said Cobb police Cpl. Dana Pierce.
A neighbor out on a stroll with his 1-year-old daughter called authorities after discovering the headless body in the parked truck about 8 a.m.
Hutcherson was charged with first-degree vehicular homicide, driving under the influence, failure to stop at an accident with death or injury and failure to maintain lanes. He remained in the Cobb County Jail on Sunday night, held on $10,000 bond.
Police said that before the two friends got to Runaround Sue's in Marietta late Saturday night, they had been at a house where they had gathered to watch a televised NASCAR event. Brohm's father, Dan Brohm, said that Brohm was a mechanic who worked late on Saturdays and then met up with friends sometimes.
Police don't know how long the friends were at the bar but said the two left after Brohm felt sick.
Less than a mile and half from the bar, the pickup truck ran off Canton Road, traveled about 10 feet and hit the guide wire.
Investigators have not yet determined how fast the truck was going. Police would not say why Brohm was hanging out the passenger-side window when he was struck.
After the accident, police said, Hutcherson's route home took him through a commercial and industrial district that changed to dark, narrow winding roads before reaching the two-story Colonial house where he lives with his mother and sister. He parked the 1992 Chevrolet Z-71 in the driveway to the house's two-car garage.
Except for the body in the passenger seat, the only thing amiss was the passenger-side mirror, which had been sheared off in the accident.
Later that morning, police found the severed head at the crash site on Canton Road.
Pierce would not say how Hutcherson explained the headless body in his truck.
Robert Gladstone, 61, who lives a few doors down from Hutcherson's house and describes him as "a fine fellow," said residents were shocked when they saw the police and the white sheet over the body in the truck.
"But as the day progressed and we found out more and more, my wife and I were in utter disbelief," he said. "It was beyond our imagination."
The owner of Runaround Sue's said Sunday that the bar offers a courtesy van to take home intoxicated patrons. Before customers are allowed to enter, bar personnel check to see if they are inebriated, and the staff continues to monitor patrons' alcohol intake throughout the night, said owner David Ulmer.
"To my knowledge, these people weren't served alcohol at Runaround Sue's," Ulmer said. "It's unfortunate that we may have been the last stop they made before this horrendous incident."
Brohm's father described Francis — Frankie to the family — as a fun-loving person who had been friends with Hutcherson since high school.
"He was a very outgoing person who was very close with his friends and very close with his [two] sisters," Dan Brohm said.
Next-door neighbor James Q. Collier, a retired engineer from Lockheed, said he has known Hutcherson for almost 20 years. When Collier was laid up because of an ulcer a few years ago, Hutcherson would come by to help with household chores, he said.
"It sounds awful, I'm sorry for both families," Collier said. "That kid has never been any problem."
— Staff researcher Joni Zeccola contributed to this article.
By SAEED AHMED ([email protected]), BRENDEN SAGER ([email protected])
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/30/04
A Marietta man left a bar early Sunday morning, got into an accident that decapitated the passenger in his pickup truck, then drove several miles home and went to sleep — leaving his pickup truck parked overnight in his driveway with the body of his friend hanging out the passenger side window, Cobb County police said.
Police said John Kemper Hutcherson, 21, of Marietta drove off a road soon after leaving a bar about midnight and hit a support wire to a telephone pole. The guide wire severed the head of his friend, Francis Daniel Brohm, 23, of Marietta.
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Hutcherson then drove 12 miles to his home on Fox Hound Chase, where police found him Sunday morning in blood-splattered clothes.
"It's hard for one to imagine that you would drive [several] miles from a crash site to your home, turning in various directions, and yet not know what has happened to a passenger sitting next to you in your vehicle," said Cobb police Cpl. Dana Pierce.
A neighbor out on a stroll with his 1-year-old daughter called authorities after discovering the headless body in the parked truck about 8 a.m.
Hutcherson was charged with first-degree vehicular homicide, driving under the influence, failure to stop at an accident with death or injury and failure to maintain lanes. He remained in the Cobb County Jail on Sunday night, held on $10,000 bond.
Police said that before the two friends got to Runaround Sue's in Marietta late Saturday night, they had been at a house where they had gathered to watch a televised NASCAR event. Brohm's father, Dan Brohm, said that Brohm was a mechanic who worked late on Saturdays and then met up with friends sometimes.
Police don't know how long the friends were at the bar but said the two left after Brohm felt sick.
Less than a mile and half from the bar, the pickup truck ran off Canton Road, traveled about 10 feet and hit the guide wire.
Investigators have not yet determined how fast the truck was going. Police would not say why Brohm was hanging out the passenger-side window when he was struck.
After the accident, police said, Hutcherson's route home took him through a commercial and industrial district that changed to dark, narrow winding roads before reaching the two-story Colonial house where he lives with his mother and sister. He parked the 1992 Chevrolet Z-71 in the driveway to the house's two-car garage.
Except for the body in the passenger seat, the only thing amiss was the passenger-side mirror, which had been sheared off in the accident.
Later that morning, police found the severed head at the crash site on Canton Road.
Pierce would not say how Hutcherson explained the headless body in his truck.
Robert Gladstone, 61, who lives a few doors down from Hutcherson's house and describes him as "a fine fellow," said residents were shocked when they saw the police and the white sheet over the body in the truck.
"But as the day progressed and we found out more and more, my wife and I were in utter disbelief," he said. "It was beyond our imagination."
The owner of Runaround Sue's said Sunday that the bar offers a courtesy van to take home intoxicated patrons. Before customers are allowed to enter, bar personnel check to see if they are inebriated, and the staff continues to monitor patrons' alcohol intake throughout the night, said owner David Ulmer.
"To my knowledge, these people weren't served alcohol at Runaround Sue's," Ulmer said. "It's unfortunate that we may have been the last stop they made before this horrendous incident."
Brohm's father described Francis — Frankie to the family — as a fun-loving person who had been friends with Hutcherson since high school.
"He was a very outgoing person who was very close with his friends and very close with his [two] sisters," Dan Brohm said.
Next-door neighbor James Q. Collier, a retired engineer from Lockheed, said he has known Hutcherson for almost 20 years. When Collier was laid up because of an ulcer a few years ago, Hutcherson would come by to help with household chores, he said.
"It sounds awful, I'm sorry for both families," Collier said. "That kid has never been any problem."
— Staff researcher Joni Zeccola contributed to this article.